Civ Pro: 92 (The only one I am fairly sure about. I'd be really surprised with anything under 90)Crim: 87 (Total crapshoot... could get anywhere from sub-median to near the top of the class and not be surprised)Con Law: 93 (Think I nailed most of the issues, but who knows with our prof)Research: 90Legal Practice: 87 (I have gotten an 86 on all 4 of my graded assignments so far this year. Trying to be optimistic that I finally broke the curse, but I probably didn't.)

~87 is the median, so this would put me around top 1/4-1/3 for the semester I think.

Elective Legislation Class: A/A-; cranked out 9000+ words in 3 hours. Feel good about this one.

Con Law: B+/A-; closed book exam - got out 11500 words in 4 hours. Missed a few issues on the last question, but it's a closed book con law exam, so I'd imagine the quality of exams overall struggled.

Property: B+/A-; another closed book. Got out more than 9000 words in 3 hours and felt like a reasonable handle on what the professor wanted. Will be slightly disappointed with anything short of an A-.

Criminal Law: Death; will update tomorrow if death doesn't take me.

Ugh

This just strikes me why more professors should use word limits. Technical proficiency should not give this much of an edge on exams. Sure it doesn't guarantee a higher grade, but it sure helps. I'm assuming that 9000 words in 3 hours is more of a product of fast typing than the stylization of your answers.

Time and Word limits are artificial constraints designed to force students to put out their "best" arguments as opposed to "all the arguments". IMO Word limits do a much better job of securing this goal than time limits. Student model answers that exceed 2500-3000+ words for a 1-hour question are also terrifying because the implication is that huge answers are seen as better despite the fact that the professor deliberately crafted the exam such that most people physically wouldn't be able to cover the topic in such detail.

Ty Webb wrote:I would type more probably, except that I hate typos and can't let myself leave them in exams. It's a curse.

People purposefully leave typos?! HOW? I mean, I know that's not the point of the exam, but... it just seems so wrong to let go an exam with typos without any kind of consequences.

I thought so too, last semester the only model answers I had access to were from an 8-hour take home with a strict word limit - so naturally the spelling and grammar was pretty solid.

Then I saw my property model answers this semester (exam is in 9 hours, FML)... people were pumping out 3000+ words for 1hr questions in the models and they were RIDDLED with spelling errors. Not just grammar nazi stuff, but every single sentence had some blatant flaw and any word with more than 2 syllables was a mangled mess.

@wayward

I might be biased too. While I can type text and stuff at 80WPM, it takes too much focus to pull off during a mentally straining exam. During exams I am almost always thinking about the topic, what I might be missing, and scanning what I write to make sure it makes sense, etc... so my typing generally proceeds at a slow peck that is probably close to 30WPM.

I too had my best grade on a word-limited 8-hour take home. I felt it was a better representative of my thinking process and reasoning ability than timed exams where my answers seem to come out on the short-end and I have a nasty habit of not leaving enough time for the last question.

somewhatwayward wrote:^you have your prop final at three? i wish i had nine more hours. mine is at 10, and i am the least prepared i have ever been

Yea, this is definitely my least-prep'd exam. I can't believe I actually felt pressed for time last Winter when we had 4 days between exams. I really am learning property in a 24-hour window right now. Good luck though, regardless of how it turns out- 1L is almost over.

Con Law: A-/B+. Certainly hit all the issues, but there was a short word count and the exam was no different than past years exams. Tight Curve.Property: B. 50 multi choice questions, 4 hours, no fucking clue. an A last year was apparently a 35/50. Total mindfuckContracts: A-. Felt like I hit all the big issues, but also picked up on other counterarguments. Crim Pro: B+. Messed up some multiple choice questions, but pretty sure I got all the easy and medium difficulty questions.

Basically not expecting to do as well as last Semester, and will be shocked to stay in the top 10%

Done, I'm among the tiny minority that feels miserable now that exams are over.

I have a very clear image of full B's rolling in next month. All my exams were 3-4hr issue spotters and I didn't finish a single one within the time limit. My "Question #3's" range from a high-score of 1000 words to an abysmal 2 paragraphs.

I feel like I'm doing my professors a favor, when they see my 30% done answer to the last problem... they won't even have to debate who's going to set the B- floor of the curve.

LRW: A (Pretty much confirmed)Property: A- (Aced two of the questions, not so much the third, fucked up RAP. Hope the first two outweigh that one)Crim Law: B+ (Issue spotter was a shitshow, but everyone felt that way. Aced the policy section though, worth 40%)Con Law: Just hoping for B+ and this point.